FIREFIGHTERS have tackled a serious blaze in a first floor flat above a computer shop in Sandbach this afternoon, June 20.

Crews arrived at the Laptop Shop on Congleton Road at 2.15pm. They used breathing apparatus and hose reels before calling for backup from neighbouring forces.

A fire engine from Sandbach was joined by one from Crewe, one from Holmes Chapel, one from Macclesfield, one from Winsford and the aerial appliance from Macclesfield.

All parties in the building were accounted for.

A Fire Service spokesman said: “This was a particularly challenging incident for firefighters at the scene, as the first crew to arrive had to enter the property from a heavily secured rear area.

“Initially it was thought someone was in the flat, so firefighters wearing breathing apparatus carried out a swift and thorough search in very difficult conditions while a covering water jet was deployed at the front of the building.

“The crews had the fire under control before it spread through roofspace to neighbouring properties and before the aerial appliance arrived from Macclesfield.”

An investigation is underway to find out how the fire started.